Gin gets its flavour from juniper berries and was developed based on the earlier drink Jenever, which is the traditional juniper-flavored national spirit of Belgium and the Netherlands. Jenever was originally produced by the distillation of malt wine and the herbs were added to mask the strong flavour. Juniper berries were chosen for the flavouring due to their alleged medicinal effects.

Interesting fact: The Gin Act was introduced in London in 1736, making gin prohibitively expensive. This was a very bad idea, as riots broke out and the law was blatantly disregarded. Distillers simply stopped getting their licenses the official way, but didn’t stop producing gin. In 1742 it was recognised that The Gin Act was unenforceable and it was repealed. Instead, a different policy with reasonably high prices, licensed retailers and reasonable excise duties was introduced.